Eastern Creek: Team India preview

Parthiva Sureshwaren to race for India in Australia
A1 Team India head to Australia this weekend, for the seventh
race in the 2006/07 A1GP season. Having scored their first points in
A1GP at the last race in New Zealand, the team is feeling ...

Parthiva Sureshwaren to race for India in Australia

A1 Team India head to Australia this weekend, for the seventh
race in the 2006/07 A1GP season. Having scored their first points in
A1GP at the last race in New Zealand, the team is feeling positive ahead
of the race at the Eastern Creek circuit, which will see Parthiva
Sureshwaren take up racing duties. Sureshwaren, who made his debut with
the team in the Rookie session in Indonesia, will complete the entire
race weekend for the team.

Narain Karthikeyan, who scored four points
for India at the A1GP Taupo, New Zealand, is unable to attend the
Australian round due to his F1 commitments. Sureshwaren has wide and
varied experience in motor racing, becoming Indian National Karting
Champion in 1998. He then went on to compete in the Indian National
Formula Maruti Championship and British Formula Ford Winter Series. By
2000, he was runner-up in the Formula Asia Championship and Rookie of the
Year. Since then, Sureshwaren has competed in the British F3
Championship, Barber Dodge Pro Series and World Series by Renault.

Commenting on his first race weekend with the team, Sureshwaren said,
"I'm really excited to be racing for India in Australia. A1GP
is a great championship and it's an honour to be able to represent
my country. I took part in the Rookie Session in Indonesia and worked
really well with the team, so I'm feeling positive that we can have
a good result in Sydney. Narian called me earlier this week to wish me
good luck and to pass on a few tips about racing in A1GP, so I hope this
will help me bring success to A1 Team India."

A1 Team India
seatholder, Yohann Setna said "The whole team is still on a high
after scoring our first points at the last race in New Zealand, but we
are focused on carrying this positive momentum into this weekend. Narain
did a great job for us, and provided the team with some good feedback on
the car which we can capitalise on here. Parthiva impressed the team
with a solid performance after just a few laps in the car in Indonesia,
and I'm confident that he will be able to progress further in
Australia."

The race will mark A1GP's second visit to the
Eastern Creek raceway, which features tight and twisting corners over an
undulating track, presenting a challenge both physically and mentally for
the Indian driver. With a sizeable Indian community in Sydney, A1 Team
India can look forward to some enthusiastic support from their fellow
countrymen. The team will be looking for Indian flags in the grandstands
at the Eastern Creek circuit, which will see track action commence from
Friday 2 February.